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I was shaking as I walked to Prince Chevalier’s room. Prince Gilbert had me at my wit’s end. I couldn’t deal with him anymore. I never had been able to, really, but I was so used to handling everything on my own that I thought I could manage him, too. The reality that I was completely helpless in his hands came crashing down on me, shattering any illusion of control, and I barely made it to Prince Chevalier’s room before my legs gave out. I collapsed just inside his door, trembling uncontrollably, my face in my hands. Prince Gilbert’s poisoned words rang in my ears over and over again.
You were mine long before he met you.
What did that mean?
He’d been watching me. Studying me. Hunting me down. Now, he had me backed in a corner, and I didn’t even know why. Had he ever been here for Prince Chevalier, or Belle, or had this all been about me from the start?
I couldn’t make sense of it.
I dropped my hands from my face and took a few deep breaths to slow my racing heart. The sunlight pouring through the windows highlighted the lump under the blankets, unmoving while I had my silent breakdown. Prince Chevalier needed to know. I didn’t think he would punish Charlie, not severely, anyway. He’d investigated Charlie thoroughly before selecting him as my coachman, and even if he hadn’t, I couldn’t believe Charlie was a willing participant in Prince Gilbert’s game. Charlie was always nice to me, always friendly, always smiling. I’d never seen him frown until today. He couldn’t have let Prince Gilbert in the carriage of his own free will. Prince Gilbert threatened him, just like he threatened me.
No, not like he threatened me. Not at all.
I stood up and walked across the room to the window, pulling the drapes open and tying them back with numb fingers. The threats were enough on their own to shake me to the core, but when they mixed and mingled with the incessant worry I felt for Mother, the fear that I shouldn’t have left her at all, I could barely breathe. My usual morning greeting wouldn’t come. I sat on the edge of Prince Chevalier’s bed, clenching my fingers into my skirt. The blankets rustled behind me.
“What are you doing?” Prince Chevalier mumbled.
I closed my eyes and forced the words out into the open.
“Prince Chevalier…I can’t do this anymore.”
I kept my eyes closed, not knowing what to expect from him. The bed shifted as he sat up and moved toward me. One hand reached across my stomach to hook around my waist, the other came around to the side of my head, both warm and gentle as he pulled me to his chest. I shivered slightly as his warmth drove away the lingering chill from Prince Gilbert. He sighed and rested his cheek against my hair, his fingers brushing across my cheek and settling on my shoulder briefly before sliding down my arm to my hand. His fingers interlaced with mine and pried them from my skirt, guiding my hand around to my waist and completing his secure embrace. Suddenly, I could breathe. Here, wrapped in his arms, I could breathe.
“Tell me,” he murmured.
“I can’t do it,” I repeated in a small voice. “Mother keeps getting worse, and Prince Gilbert won’t leave me alone, and I can’t do it anymore.”
“You don’t have to.”
“He was on the carriage,” I whispered. “He knew my mother, and my father - my history - and he said I belonged to him before you knew me. And he was there - last night, he was there, at my house, but I didn’t know because Prince Licht was with me. He’s been watching me since Prince Clavis’ party.”
Prince Chevalier tensed around me as I poured it all out, pulling me tighter against him, and I finally felt safe. There was no way Prince Gilbert could touch me here. Prince Chevalier was warm and tender with me, but I felt the strength in his arms and his chest, a rock wall around me, and I knew he wouldn’t let anything happen to me. His heart beat a steady rhythm against my ear, and I sighed as I relaxed in his arms.
“He didn’t mention your mother when he had you in his room,” he said quietly.
“No,” I confirmed, shaking my head. “It was in the gardens, when he gave me the black rose. He said it suited me, and he asked if I looked like her. He said I have her eyes.”
“Meaning he didn’t know until he saw you up close,” Prince Chevalier muttered.
“So, he didn’t come here for me?”
It wasn’t much consolation, but it was some. Or maybe the relief I felt was just from telling Prince Chevalier and knowing he could handle what I couldn’t.
“No. Not initially.”
He sighed again, his breath ruffling my hair. The hand not entangled with my fingers left my waist to catch my chin and tilt it towards him as he pulled back enough for our eyes to meet.
“Whatever he says, you belong to me, little dove,” he said firmly, his crystal blue eyes smoldering. I swallowed, suddenly nervous under the intensity of his gaze.
“If I weren’t so tired, I’d probably object to you saying that,” I managed to say.
He smirked, and my eyes dropped automatically to his lips, far too close to mine. “Would you?”
I bit my lip and forced my gaze to something else, anything else - and they dropped to his chest, partially exposed by the top two buttons of his shirt having come undone in the night. A rush of embarrassment made me squeeze my eyes shut again and hide my red face in his shirt. He chuckled and ran his fingers through my ponytail.
“I sent you home yesterday to sleep.”
“I - I was behind on housework,” I stammered, wishing my cheeks didn’t feel like they were on fire. “And Mother wanted to talk, and - she hasn’t been up for talking for a while…”
Which reminded me that as much as I just wanted to stay right here, where I was safe, where the murmured words and gentle touches weren’t meant to manipulate me or control me, I couldn’t. Jason could come looking for me at any time with the news that I needed to go home right away.
“But she was worse this morning, and…I might have to leave early today,” I added miserably.
Prince Chevalier carefully untangled himself from me and took hold of my shoulders, gently pushing me back from him. I looked up into his pale blue eyes, warm and focused entirely on me.
“You’re not leaving until I’ve assigned a guard detail to you,” he said firmly.
“How…how long will that take?”
He smiled ruefully. “At least you have the sense not to argue.”
He released my shoulders and climbed out of bed, leaving me sitting in a sea of blankets that smelled like him. I hugged my arms and looked back at the window. The sunshine felt real. I hadn’t even noticed it until now, too mired down in a pit of darkness, but it was another bright, sunny day.
“It won’t take long,” he said, his bureau drawers groaning as he opened them. “After I finish here, I’ll walk you to Eyepatch’s room. The guards will be in place by the time you finish there, here, and at your house. The Mime already doubled the guards along your route home after you were assaulted.”
How had I not noticed that?
“The Showoff is taking Eyepatch away from the palace for most of the day,” Prince Chevalier continued, closing his drawers and heading toward the bathroom. “Number One and the Clown will be gone on business as well. The rest of my brothers have no pressing matters to attend to, so at least one will be in the library with you while you’re here, and one will accompany your carriage.”
“What about Charlie? The coachman?” I asked, getting out of bed. If Prince Chevalier was going back to work, I should, too. And I couldn’t risk falling asleep when I might have to leave at any time. “You won’t punish him, will you?”
“You concern yourself far too much about others and not nearly enough about yourself,” Prince Chevalier replied irritably from the bathroom. “The coachman was the last in a series of failures or subversions resulting in Eyepatch in your carriage. I will deal with him accordingly.”
Meaning Prince Chevalier wasn’t blaming Charlie exclusively, and, I hoped, Charlie would get off with little more than a firm reprimand. I decided to focus on that and not on the implication that multiple people either succumbed to Prince Gilbert’s threats or willingly aided him in getting on my carriage. Prince Chevalier would handle it, and he seemed much more confident about Prince Gilbert today than he had yesterday. And I was happy to let him worry about that so I could worry about Mother.
I handed him his sword when he emerged from the bathroom. He strapped it around his waist and grabbed his cloak from the coat rack.
“Prince Chevalier…thank you.”
He smiled and caught my chin with his now gloved fingers. “You’ve given me what I needed to understand him, little dove. He’s my problem now, not yours. Do you understand?”
I felt my lips tugging into a smile, too, although I still didn’t understand everything that was going on. “Yes, as much as I need to.”
He released my chin and poked me in the forehead. “I may tell you more later. Come.”
He held the door open for me, and I stepped into the empty hallway, waiting for him to take the lead as he always did when we walked together. But when he closed the door behind him, his hand came to the small of my back, guiding me to walk directly beside him. I felt my cheeks heat up all over again from the intimate gesture. His soft chuckle didn’t help.
“You get embarrassed too easily, little dove.”
It also didn’t help that he said ‘little dove’ the same way he said my name, adding feeling and emphasis to every syllable. When Prince Gilbert called me that, I felt like a bird with clipped wings, my legs shackled to a perch in a locked cage. With Prince Chevalier, I felt like I could fly just on his breath alone. Or faint. Or possibly both.
“I’m not really used to this,” I replied, trying to keep my voice even and my eyes straight ahead.
His hand left my back when we turned the next corner. I missed it immediately.
We walked in silence the rest of the way to the foreign princes’ rooms. I was expecting him to leave me there, but he opened Prince Gilbert’s door with no hesitation and strode inside. His piercing blue eyes scanned the room in a single sweep, and he went into the bathroom, probably inspecting that, too. I started on the bed while he finished.
“Who will come for you if you need to leave early?” he asked when he returned to the bedroom.
“My neighbor’s oldest son, Jason,” I replied, moving to the other side of the bed. “He’s thirteen, tall and gangly, brown hair and eyes.” I looked up at Prince Chevalier and smiled. “Well, taller than me, anyway. Not as tall as you.”
“Then you are aware of how small you are,” he replied, smirking. “I was beginning to wonder.” He spun on his heel and headed for the door. “The guards will be discreet. You may not notice them.”
The door closed behind him, leaving me alone in Prince Gilbert’s room. It wasn’t so frightening anymore.
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